The wars of Alexander: an alliterative romance translated chiefly ...

296 NOTES TO pp. 62—72, 11. 1191—1350.
1191. The right reading is to be got by comparing the MSS., viz.
" I sail seche lewise on the lewes enioyne or 1 die," I shall enjoin such
punishment on the Jews ere I die. lewres is certainly an error for
lewies = lewise or luvnse, not an uncommon word for judgment,
punishment, used by Chaucer. It is merely the O.F. form of the Lat.
iudicium. Lat. "Talem faciam vindictam de ludeis vt discernant
quorum precepta debeant obseruare ; " a 5, back, col. 2.
1193. Here begins the famous episode known as 'the foray of
Gadirs,' which is sometimes expanded almost into a separate romance.
This foray is the subject of the first part of 'The Bulk of the most noble
and vail^eand Conquerour Alexander the Great/ printed at Edinburgh
for the Bannatyne Club in 1834, being a reprint from an earlier edition
by Arbuthnot in 1580.^ It is concerned with the exploits of Meleager
and others in trying to obtain cattle for the support of the army at
Tyre. In the present romance, this episode terminates at 1. 1336.
Gadirs is in the Latin text Gadii ; and, since Plutarch describes Alexander
as making war at this time against the Arabians of Antilibanus,
I suppose the place meant is Kedesh in Galilee, which belonged to the
T3'rians, and is at no great distance from Tyre j see Kedesh in Smith'q
Diet, of the Bible.
1207. The Lat. has " predamque ducerent infoiitam ;" a 6, col. 1.
1212. Lat. "Theosellus dux armentorum ;
" ib.
1225. Arystes ; not mentioned in the Lat. text till further on
(1. 1277), where the Lat. has Arrideus.
1229. Lat. " Gaulus vero ipsius ducis armentorum verticem amputauit
; " ib.
1242. Beritinus ; Lat. Bitirius. •' Dum igitur liec omnia essent
Bitirio cognita, de ciuitate Gadii exiuit cum equitibus triginta milibns
ad prelium preparatis. Tanta siquidem erat copia pugnatorum quod
ex nimio clamore terre \i-ead terra] tremere videbatur;" ib.
1270. Malsirid ; so written, but (by the common use of i for c) it
stands for malscrid, as noted by Stratmann, s.v. malskren. It means
bewildered ; see Maskede in Halliwell.
1282. This line, in the Dublin MS., is written in large letters merely
because it is the first line on the page. LI. 1281—1341, with all their
graphic details, are expanded out of a few lines of the Lat. text, which
merely has the following passage. "Alexander autem relinquens
Tyrum veuit in losaphat vbi Bytirium et totum eius exercitum confudit.
Reuersus autem Tyrum inuenit edificium quod in mari construxerat
funditus dissipatum. Balaam enim cum omnibus habitantibus
Tiruiu, post recessum Alexandri egressus, edificium illud viriliter expuguauit.
Quod videntes Macedones iterum turbati sunt ; " ib.
1350. Feetles to mete ; probably feetles is for fetles, vessels (Stratmann).
Then feiles to mete would mean * vesselsful by measure,' which
is equivalent to ' floods enough ' in the Dublin MS.
I See an epitome of it in Weber's Metrical Romances, vol. i. p. Ixxiii.